Ball-winding machine



Y E. G. LOOVIIS. BALL WINDING MACHINE.

'Pme/111011 HLED 11111.6,1921- Patented July* 25'9 1922,

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

$1513 @is @www E. Gx LOOIVIIS.

BALL' WINDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 6, 1921. Lgggpggo Patented' JuIy 25, 1922. 4SHEETS-SHEET 2.

,MMM/7m,

E. GflOOMIS.

BALL wlNDlNG MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 6, |921.

' :Patented July 25, 1922.

' 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

@321g zii E. G. Loon/Hs.

BALL WINDING NIACHINE.

APPLICATION FILEDV JAN. 6. |921.

.PatetedJuly 25, 1922.

" 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4 earnnrdonnea- EVARTS s. LooMIs, QE NEWARK, NEWJERSEY.

BA LL-WINDING MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern.'

and useful Improvements in allVinding Machines. of which the followingis a specification.

vMy invention relates to an improvement in machines/tor winding balls,and is particularly directed 'to machines for winding golt' balls. anobject oi' the Vinvention being the provision ot' a machine capable ofwinding goltl balls having a sott center.

1n my prior Patent No. 1,242,885 of October 9. 1917, I have shown amachine for winding golf balls having a sott center, but

in that imaufhine it isv necessary to start the winding operation byhand winding the elastic 'tape upon the center or core until it has beenwound suiiiciently' to enable the ball to be placed in the machinewithout distorting the core.

The machine. of this application is constructed in such. a manner that aball may be wound therein 'from the outset, means having been providedfor so regulating they tension on the tape.y etc.,that all danger o ydistortion of the center or core is eliminated.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein I have illustrated anembodiment'of my invention,

Fig. 1 shows in part sectional elevation a machine of my improved type;

Fig. 2 is a view taken substantially on the line 2 2 ot Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectiontaken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. e is a plan 'View ot the apparatus of Fig. 2 vwith portions brokenaway to show the operating mechanism for the pressing rolls;

Fig. 5 is a view taken substantially on the line 5--5 of Fig. 4;

l Fig. 6 is a planyiew of the mechanism 4of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a view substantially on the line 7 7 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view rshowing the details of the machine brokenaway at the top ofFig. 2; and l Fig. 9 is a sectional, elevational viewof a tensioning device with which my machine is equipped.

`Referring to the drawings in detail, l

Specification of Letters Patent.

v 'which is mounted a pinion 22.

tram in one housing 19 is a duplicate of Patented July 25, 1922.

Application filed January 6, 1921. Serial No. 435,430.`

designatesthe bed of the machine on which are disposedvertically-extending supports 2 in which is mounted a drive shaft 3. Theleftha'nd end of this shaft as viewed in Fig. 2 carries a broadtacedgear 1 and driving pulley 5, power being supplied to the latter from anysuitable source.

On the other end of the'drive shaft I i mount a beveled gear 6 meshingwith a beveled gear 7 mounted on a vertically-extending shaft 8, thelatter carrying also a pair of cams 9 and 1() and a pinion 11.

Above the drive shaft 3 is mounted a pair ot' parallel Vrollers 12adapted to be moved longitudinally relatively to each other by the cams9 and 10 already referred to.- These rollers are rotatedl in the samedirection and simultaneously by gears 13 meshing with the broad-facedgear l already referred to.

The shafts on whichthe rollers 12 are mounted are operatively connectedto slides 14, one for each'shaft` these slides carrying rollers 15 and16 adapted to be engaged by the cams 9 and'l() respectively. The camsare set relatively to each other so that as they are rotated they causethe rollers 12 to alternately move to the left as viewed in Fig. 2, therollers being moved in the the opposite direction by springs 17.

Immediately above the rollers 12 are mounted two beveled rotatablebodily movable pressing rolls 18 adapted to engage the ball or corebeing wound and tonot only hold the same in contant with the rollers 12but to impart motion to theball or core.

The rolls 18 are mounted in housings 19 and are driven through gearingshown best in Figs. 3 and 4 and which will now be described. The rollsare mounted on short shafts 20 and 21 respectively, on each of As thegear that in the other, one only will be described. The pinion 22 mesheswith a gear 23 mounted in the housing 19, this gear meshing with afloating gear 24 carried by a triangular-shaped plat-e 25 mounted on ashaft 26 passing through both housings 19. This shaft carries a gear 27meshing with the gear 24 and a gear 28 meshing with a gear 29 mountedonthe shaft 30 and which sha'tt carries a large gear 31 meshing with thebroadfaced gear 4. As the shaft 26 passes through both housings 19 it.will be apparent yball or core during the winding operation it isdesirable that the rollers 18 be rotated at Adifferent rates of speed.To: this end I pro Vide the plates 2,5 and gears 24 already referredtfo. The plates 25 are pivotally mounted on the shaft 26 andeach-carries a roller 32 urged into contact withjthepface of cams 33 bysprings 34. The cams 33 are so set that a depression .in one-cam isopposite to a raised portion in the companion cam. It will be apparentthat withthe gear train in motion whenv a. roller`32 is engaged by araised `portion on a cam 33, the plate 25 will be rocked about its pivotto carry with it its gear 24. This bodily movement of the gear 24 willaccelerate the gear 23 and thereby accelerate the correspondingpressingroller 18. At the same instant a depression in the other cam 33 will beengaging the other roller 32, so that its pressing'roll will be given acorresponding negative acceleration.

The housings 19 are pivoted onthe shaft 26 so that they may be raised to`permita finished ball to be removed or a new core inserted. The raisingor lowering of the hous` ing is accomplished by a foot pedal 36 conlnected by a suitable link 37 to an upright 38 attached to the housings.The pressure of the rolls upon the ball is readily adjusted by theadjusting member 39.

The mechanism so far described has to do only with the apparatus for-handling the ball or core dur-ing the Winding operation.

tape 43 with which the ball or coreie wound passing from a supply rollover a fixed trough-shaped guide 44, over guide roller 40,

Iunder guide roller 41v over guide roller 42 to the ball or core 45. Theroller or drum 40 is provided with a brake-band'46,` the tension ofwhich is adjustable by the adjustingmechanism 47. The roller 41 isrotatively supported on a stud shaft 48 carrying differential gearingcomprising an externallytoothed gear 49 meshing withaypinion 5() mountedon a stud shaft 51 to which the guide roller 42 is secured; Keyed 'tothegear 49 is Ia small'gear 52 also rotatively supported on the stud shaft48, this gear meshingJ with a pair of floating gears 53 conf nected toeach other by a member 54 which is keyed to the. roller 41, theseA gearsin turn meshing with an internallyftoothed gear 55. The latter isprovided with a later-al flange 56,-adaptedto be engaged by a clampplate 57. The latter is suitably mounted in the Ahousing 58,-enclosingthe ldifferential gearing. upon a stud shaft 59 which is moved to theright as viewed in Fig. 7 by a cam 60. The latter. isgiven a partialrotation at the desired instant through a connection 61 and 62withaj'cam 63 driven by a gear 64-meshing with a pinion 11 already referred.-to. The roller 41 has operatively attached to it the tensionregulating device shown in Fig. 9.

becurd to: the geul" 49H and extending i Y' laterally'with respect totheroller 41 is a drum 65, this drum being secured to the gear- 49 byscrews 66. Cooperating with and pari4 tially surrounding this drum 65'is a brake band 67, one end being secured at 68 while the other end 'isiexibly secured at 69 to one arm of a bell-crank lever 70 carrying atone end an adjusting screw 71. adapted to' bear upon the surface of thehousing 58 whereby eov the tension ofthe brake hand 67 on the drum i 65may be adjusted. i

In operation a turn of tape is taken around'. a core 45 and the corethen insertedin the machine upon the longitudinal movable rollers 12,the pressing rolls 18-being moved upwardly by depressing the foot pedal36. If the machine 4is now set in operation the rollers 12 will bedriven and also be moved longitudinally relative to each other, and4vthe 'pressing rolls. 18 -will be rotated attheA same timeat differentvariable'speeds. vThe core due to these movements of the rollers 12 andthe pressing rollers 18 will be rotated about a horizontal and avertical axis, the

peripheral speed of rotation of the core about the horizontal axis beingpractically uniform while'the motion of the core about the vertical'axisis irregular, varying in both speed and direction drie tothe shape ofthe cams 9 and 10 and the cams 3 3, resulting in a practically uniformdistribution of the tape on the core and the production ofasubstantially spherical ball.

At the start of the winding operation the i cam 63visvi'ny position tocause the link 'llto actuate the cam 57 into engagement with the flange56 of the internal toothed gear toretard the same. device illustrated inFig. 9 operates to retard the rotation of the roller 41- to therebyretard the rotation of the roller 42. The result of this retarded'motion of the roller 42 is to -cause the tape 43 to be placed undertension and owing to the curvature of the. roller 42 which roller ispreferably kmade of aluminum the tape will bestretched laterally so asnot to deform the core. l

It will beapparent that the core is driven aboutboth a* horizontal and avertical axis At this time also the tension from four points, `to-wit;the two points of contact .of the rollers 12 with the core and withinthe purview of my invention.

`VVhat I claimis:

l. The method of'winding a core which method consists in driving a corefrom a plurality of points to cause the'core to rotate about one axis,driving the core about a plurality of other points to cause the core torotate about another axis and'varying the` speed and direction ofrotation 'ot the core about one of said axes.

2. The method of. winding a` core which method consists in driving thecore from a plurality oi' points to cause the core to be rotated aboutone axis and driving the core from a plurality of other points aboutanother axis.

3. The methodof Winding a' core which method consists in driving a core`from a plurality ci' points about a horizontal axis at practically aconstant peripheral speed andfrom a plurality of other points aboutanother axis at a variable speed.

4. ln a machine of the class described, the combination of parallelrollers movable longitudinally relatively to each other, means forrotating said rollers, and driven means for driving a. ball or -core andfor pressing the same into engagement with` the said parallel rollers tocause the ball or core to be driven by the parallel rollers and the saiddriven means.

5. ln a machine o the class described, the combination of a pair of'driving rolls for driving a ball or core to rotate the same aboutahorizontal axis, means for driving the ball about a vertical axis andmeans for varying the rate at which the ball or core is rotated aboutone of said axes with respect to the rate at which it is rotated aboutthe other of v said axes.

' 6. In a machine of the class described, the combination of means fordriving a ballor core from a plurality of points to rotate the sameabout a horizontal axis, means for d'riving the ball or core from aplurality of other points to rotate the same about a vertical axis, andcontrolling means for the ball driving mechanism to vary "the rate anddirec# tion of rotation of the ball or core about the vertical axis withrespect to -its rotation about a horizontal axis.

7 In a. machine of the class described, the

combination of a plurality of driven rollers,

tion of the -balty or core. about one of said axes with' res 'ect toitsrotation about the other of said axes.-

8. In a machine of 'the class described, the combination of a pluralityof driven rollers having longitudinal relative movement, a plurality ofdriven rolls, said rollers and rolls being positioned relatively to4each other to receive and` drive a ball or core about a horizontal axisand a vertical axis, means for varying the speed of said rolls to varythe rate of' rotation of the core about the vertical axis.

9. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a. pluralityof driven rollers, a plurality of drivenrolls, said rollers and rollsbeing arranged relatively to each otherf so as to simultaneously drive aball or core, the latter being drivenl about two axes substantially atright angles to each oth`er,^and means for varying the speed of the saidrolls to cause a corresponding variation in the speed of rotation of theball or core.

10. In a machine for winding balls or cores, the combination of apluralityv of rollers movable longitudinally relatively to each other, apair of. independently rotatablerolls, said rollers and rolls beingarranged to receive a ball or corev and drive the same about two axessubstantially at right angles to each other, and means for varying therelative speeds of the rolls to cause the speed of rotation of the ballor core. about one of said axesto be varied. l

11. n a ma'hine for'windingfballs or cores, the combination of aai'r ofdriven rollers and a pair of driven ro ls, said rollers and rolls beingarranged to engage simultaneously and drive a ball or core about aplurality of axes, gearing for driving said rolls,- part of said gearingbeing movable bodily to vary the speed of rotation of the said rolls tocause the motion of the ball or core to be varied.

12. In a machine for Winding balls or cores, a pair of-drivenrollers'adapted to receive a ball or core between them and to drive thesame, a pair of driven rolls 13. In a `machine for `winding balls or.

cores, a, pair of parallel longitudinally vmovable driven rollers, apair of tapered driven rolls above the said rollers, said rollers andlrolls beingv adapted to simultaneously contact with a ball or core todrive the same, a drive for said rolls and means operable automaticallyfor varying I the relative speeds of said rolls to cause thc -drivingsaidrolls and cam mechanism for imparting bodily movement to certain ofsaid gears to cause the movement of the ball or core to be varied.

i 15. Inav machine for Winding balls or` cores, parallel longitudinallymovable driven rollers `and driven rolls for receiving a` 416. In amachine for Winding. balls or` cores, a parallel' longitudinal movabledriven roller and driven rolls for receiving a ball or core to rotatethe same about two axes substantially `at right angles to each other,

means for supplying tape to a ball or corev ldr'iven by' said rollersand rolls, guidinof means for said tape, means for driving sai rollers,and a tension device automatically controlled by said driving means forcontrolling the tension on the tape as the same passes to the core orball.

17; In a. machine for Windinor balls or cores, parallel longitudinal.'movaile rollers and a pair of .rolls for receiving a ball or core andto rotate the same about' a hori- Zontal and a vertical axis, means forautomatically controlling the rotation of saifl rolls to vary themotionof the core, means for supplying tape to a ball or core as thesame isv being rotated by said rollers'and rolls, driving means for thesaid rollers and a tension device automatically con .trolled by saiddriving means for regulating the tension on the tape as the same is fedto a ball or core being rotated by said rollers and rolls.

18. In a machine for Winding balls or' cores, rollers androlls'lforreceiving a ball cause the tape in passing over the same tcbe`stretched laterally and differentialV gear mechanism connected to thislast-named roll and under the control ofthe driving mechanismv for therollers rst mentioned whereby the tension on the tape as it is' WoundL`upon the ball or core is automatically controlled.

' 19. Ina machine for Winding balls or cores, rollers and rolls adaptedto receive a ball and rotate the same about a horizontal and a verticalaxis, means for sup plying tape to a ball orcorefas the same is being sorotated, guide rollers over and under which the tape is led in passingto the ball or core being Wound, differential gearing automaticallycontrolled for varying the 'tension on the tape as the same is passed tothe ball or Acore being'wound and" an adjustable brake for saidgearing.

This specification signed this 31st day 'of December, 1920.

EVAR'IS Gr. LOOMIS.

